Blood Thirst
by Marksel
Summary: A centuries-old vampire lives quietly in an American town. But something itches, the thirst for blood returns. Will he stick to his diet, or will his Blood Thirst return? And who is the new and mysterious girl? Action packed vampire story! Rate please!
1. Introduction from the author

Dear ladies, gentlemen and vampires!

-Please read!-

One short note from the author!

Well… welcome to my story!

Which for some strange reason doesn't quite seem to draw readers =P

Or… the odd reader that does visits and reads my (I must add in a flare of arrogance) brilliant story doesn't leave their comment…

Pleeeaaaasseee do…

I NEED to know what you think of the story! =P

A snippet is enough, just say: "Good", "Bad", or anything!

Anonymous comments are accepted too!

Criticism is also appreciated and most definitely applied to the story!

I'm dying to know what you think!

With a deep night greet!

-Mark

ps. Enjoy the story!!


	2. Encounter

She walked by, her copper blonde hair glistening in the midsummer sun. Not just anyone, a smelly one, tasteful too… Barbaric thoughts crossed my mind, thoughts which, if this'd be the mediaeval period, have lead to me being beheaded, like they did my father and brother. I smiled yearning, it wasn't like I was going to consume her. No, I'd cherish her, I'd keep her smell.

"forget it Bratja, no more human meat, remember?" Vic whispered silently in to my ear, he'd seen me look.

"I'm not hungry for her brother, just… She smells so good…" I answered happily while I looked over Vic's shoulder to see her pass 'round the corner.

"Ssst Brother!" Vic hissed, "remember what happened to Reg and dad when they said that out loud?" he said softly. I answered with a malicious smile, my hand rested on Vic's shoulder.

"These aren't superstitious times, bratja." I smiled, almost manically now, "they won't behead people anymore. Freedom of speech… remember?" I chuckled.

"Well, you'll have your mind changed by a double-barreled shotgun between your eyes, brother." Vic answered, he pushed my hand away and walked away through the moodily lit hallway. Oh how many days wasted in classrooms? I've finished high school 83 times in the entire history of America and even before that I received numerous educations in Europe, from different scholars. The saying that history repeats itself is horribly true considering I've learned the same things over eighty times.

Me? As old as history: I was born as the son of a carpenter (ironically, ref. Bible) in the year 1288 in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. My ignorant human period lasted till 1306. My folks were killed in a bloody bandit raid, I survived and fled into the Russian forests, 'cause bandits were terrorizing West-Europe and I was a target. That's where I met Conrad. My rebirth father, he likes to call himself – rather liked - . See, we nightcrawlers are immortal. In fact, when our heart still is at its place, not beating however, and our head's still attached to our body, we can't die, only from starvation. You see: We do need blood to survive, the hunger is unbearable at times. Conrad turned me, he bit me. Said it was a better life. He raised me, nursed me. Learned me to feed myself. At first on animals, later on humans. 'Cause that's what we do, he'd answer me if I asked. Later, after his death, I learned the real truth, we can survive without human blood, we can survive on animal blood. Just like a human can survive without meat. We are vegetarians, in our own way. But we as Vegavamps are rare and in a world as tasty as this, it's even harder not to give into temptation. Take miss beauty queen, she smells damned tasty. But I won't eat her, no vein in my blood thirsty body. But I haven't eaten in four days. damn it! Hungry!

"Aha, Mister Young, are you coming to class too?" the history teacher asked me patiently, he stood in the porch to the classroom.

"Certainly sir." I said unhappily, I couldn't suppress a slight snarl when I followed him into the classroom.

"What was that Young?"

"Nothing sir, my lunch is having a particularly bad time in my stomach." I said, the class laughed, I laughed a hollow chuckle with them. Painful, for my stomach's been empty for four bloody whole days. I found my place and flopped down on the creaky chair, the class was about mythical creatures, annoyingly enough. If there's one thing worse than being hunted down, it's being ignored and denied an existence, blurred to the vague pages of far, far history.

"Sir?..." I heard myself say with a snide voice, "how exactly was the inexistence of vampires proven during the course of history?"

"Mister Young, would you kindly raise your finger if you would like to pose a question?" The teacher answered with a evenly snide voice. I reluctantly raised my hand.

* * *

"_WHITE SKIN, WHITE SKIN!!" "What's wrong white boy?" "Cat got your Tongue?" "Step out in the sunlight! Where we can see you!!" _"I don't want to…" _"hahaha!!!"_

* * *

As reluctantly as I had risen my hand, I lowered it.

"No question?... Alright…" The teacher shrugged and he continued his story. The remainder of the lesson passed fleetingly. The end of the hour was announced by a buzzer which echoed hollow through the hallway, like a dying scream… I quickly threw my books in my bag and got up. I left the room and the dark cold hallway greeted me like a warm blanket which keeps you safe and warm on a cold December evening.

"Weather's terrible today, don't ya think? It's the drizzle, it really gets me down." Caleb said, Caleb was the closest thing to a friend I had in this godforsaken hellhole. He was pale skinned, just like myself. His blonde hair which spiked in every direction and his bright blue eyes finished his ultra Caucasian appearance.

Funny thing the weather, but the thing is, drizzle and all other forms of rain keep me safe, 'Cause the sun can't shine when it's raining. Sunlight doesn't kill us, it just exposes us (we twinkle like a disco ball in sunlight) and annoys us like an allergy. That's the entire reason why I live in Canada, in the charming little town of Cumberland, on the isle of Vancouver, it's about the wettest place in the entire North-American continent. Well, I don't exactly live in Cumberland, I live in a humble house in the hills above the town. Peace and quiet. We, my brother and I, enjoy being left alone, no one to bother us. Caleb waved his and in front of my face and I couldn't help but blink.

"What!?" I said, a bit too aggravated. Caleb flinched, he knew my temper, especially at times when I was hungry.

"Sorry mate, but you spaced out on me again." He said and he tried a little smile, "I asked if you came along to the party this weekend. It's gonna be one heck of a thrill." He laughed and looked at me in anticipation.

"Well… Sure, I'll be there, count on me!" I answered with a forced smile, maybe She would be there I thought happily. You know, some things make you stop and smell, it's captivating. She was exactly that thing, her natural perfume drifted up my nostrils and made my brain do summersaults.

Caleb looked exhilarated, he couldn't stop smiling "All right! Awesome! The party's at …"

"Phil's, yeah I know." I interrupted Caleb, he stopped, looked at me and opened his mouth again…

"At…"

"Nine, yeah, I already knew that too…" Caleb had gone from exhilarated to downright annoyed, just the way I liked them. Humans and their bloody cheery disposition, could all be blasted to hell for all I cared. I wasn't a Vegavamp for all the right reasons, to be perfectly strait, I just don't like the stench and taste of some human blood. It's just like restaurants: you got the MacDonald's and the Michelin restaurants. MacDonald's is a quick and easy snack, not per se tasty. Michelin however, is outrageously yummy, but much, much harder to come by, if not rare. But about the party: I never skip one, I don't sleep anyway, so I need something to keep me amused throughout the night.

"strange boys, those Young brothers," I heard from across the hallway, I have exceptionally good hearing, like most Vamps. two girls were chatting amongst themselves, they giggled as my brother past them, he closed his eyes to smell their scent. Opened them again and smiled crookedly.

"They might be strange," The other girl giggled, "but they both are drop dead gorgeous, aren't they?"

The other girl hummed approvingly. I smiled a smart hansom smile. Took me goddamned long to get the hang of, by the way. Caleb saw my brother come closer and he smiled bleakly, greeted me and walked away as quick as his human legs would carry him. Caleb never liked Vic, not since Vic almost broke his neck in a brotherly quarrel, which he was accidently mixed into. I held out my hand to greet Vic's, he smacked his dead cold hand into mine, and smiled serenely.

"It feels good to look good," Vic said, and he looked over his shoulder with his handsome but naughty smile. Which took him about half the time it took me to learn it, annoyingly... The girls giggled and quickly scurried past us.

Vic smiled, "Nice… ass…" He said lovingly as he followed the two girls with his eyes. I looked at my brother, he looked back at me. I smiled hollow, hunger really puts a strain on my mood.

"Shall we feed tonight, bratja?" I said softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

"It's time isn't it? I've grown hungry too…"

There she was again…

Her smell came before she did, and I knew: I couldn't hold myself any longer. It was time to head for the hills, and quickly.

"Let's go, quickly..." I whispered softly. My brother nodded sympatheticly, he saw the beast in my eyes, I felt it in my heart. We walked away, but I couldn't resist to look back once more, I looked over my shoulder and our eyes met for a second. She immediately looked to the ground. Shy… Hmmm… They say new things always are attractive, the same goes for new flesh I guess. She had just moved here, or at least, I saw her first only yesterday. We passed through the big door at the entrance of the school building, stepped out into the drizzle and I looked up at the sky. I smiled happily: perfect weather to hunt. We walked on, passed a group of boys, who looked at us in envy. Not only were we good looking, we were filthy rich as well, 700 years' interest is a heck of a lot of money. My brother took the car keys from his pocket and he turned off the alarm and lock.

"I'm driving today," I said, and with a malicious grin I caught the keys as my brother threw them at me. A shiny black BMW M3, our new play thing. I got in the car, waited till my brother sat beside me and with a grin I started the engine.

"Hear her purr!" My brother said ecstatically. I revved the engine a couple of times, to attract attention, and then pulled out of the parking space with squealing tires. Vic howled and laughed loudly.

"Move Move!" He said. I shifted gear and the car shot out of the parking lot, almost hitting another car on the road.

"What was the speed limit again?" I asked with a broad smile, " Whoops, forgotten! Ah well…"

I accelerated and speeded down the main road with a 150 miles an hour, weaving through the traffic. A red traffic light caused a small jam, but I steered the car on the sidewalk to avoid it. Crossing the intersection I nearly hit the oncoming traffic. Vampires have lighting fast reflexes and I knew the roads here well, that's why I've never been in any kind of an accident. We left the city limits and turned right to leave the main road, to end up on a winding mountain road. Almost nobody used this road anymore, so I raced up the mountain. About fifteen minutes later we were high up the mountain road and the quality of the already bad road had decreased drastically. The turn to our house lay hidden on the side of the road, and I braked hard to steer the BMW onto the muddy road that leads up to our house. Our house, what's in a name, it was more like a hideout. The brown and green colors barely stood out against the trees and that's why you had to be close to actually see it. The one storey that was above ground was only meant as garage and entrance hall. The rest of the house, which was buried underground, consisted of open spaces, with little to no sunlight. The house had no bedrooms, no kitchen, one small bathroom, a large open living room, and two large personal rooms for me and my brother. We really enjoyed videogames and our living room was decorated with a large plasma screen, an Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3. The Wii is a bore with superhuman reflexes, take that from me. As I came down the spiraling stairs, after parking the car, that led down to the living room the large speakers on the wall were pumping out a rock song and Vic was already lying on the couch. He reached for a mini fridge next to the coach, pulled open the door and looked at the pathetic contents. A row blood packs and a row beer. While we didn't eat, a beer or two went down quite nicely if it was mixed with a few drops of blood.

"Beer?" Vic asked and he held out a cold beer, "It's your native brand." He smiled. He knew I detest my Dutch ancestry, horrible bloody fucks! While I was starving in the gutter as a young boy the rich bastards still continued their endless feast. All I could do was drool…

"Hmm…" I sighed in contemplation, "sure…"

Vic smiled broadly, he opened the can and poured the beer in a glass with a little bit of blood in it. The beer, which normally is golden, turned a smeary brown. I walked to accept my beer and smelled the blood. I wheezed like a horny human.

"Fuck… I'm hungry!" I screamed annoyed and I yanked the glass from my brother's hand. I poured the dirty beer down my throat and just for a second enjoyed the satisfied feeling it gave me. Blood!

"Let's hunt!" I yelled aggressively at my brother. He nodded, the blood thirst was in his eyes too. Whilst we are mostly adapted to modern society, we can't always suppress our beastly nature, especially when we smell blood. The sun had already set behind the mountain and the forest was dark, I breathed in deeply to inhale the cold evening air.

"Lead on, bratja!" Vic growled.

The hunt began.

Vampires are the best at hunting, they're built for speed. I took off, raced up the mountain and tried to smell a prey. Trees flashed past and adrenaline raced through my veins. And then I smelled it, deer! I made a ninety degree turn by swinging myself round a tree, and raced towards the smell. There she was, beautiful fresh blood and lots of it, she stood on a clearing and through the forest canopy you could see that the clouds were churning. I came to a halt and dropped in a ditch to hide myself. I took quick shallow breaths and If I'd had a beating heart, it now would beat like crazy. From my mossy ditch I could see how the deer looked up and twitched her ears. She looked frightened, but she continued grazing. Vic arrived at my ditch and looked at my prey, "Nice one, brother…" he said, wheezing a bit. I'd always been faster than my brother, not only because I was lighter, but my reflexes were better. He on the other hand was stronger. He licked his lips and nudged me.

"Shall I?" I asked smiling exhilarated. My brother answered by courteously gesturing at the deer. I chuckled happily. This, I was waiting for. I silently stood up, the deer looked at me, I saw the fear. "run…" I said silently, and shot towards the deer. She ran away and the chase was on. I followed her through the thick undergrowth and bushes. She was nimble and quick, but I was quicker. I closed in on her: 10 meter, 5 meter, 1 meter. The deer took a 180 degree turn and raced back the way she came, I responded quickly by jumping against a tree to brake and turn around. I ran after her but I'd lost sight. I did still smell her though, and followed her smell. I caught up with her again and accelerated to catch her. I violently grabbed her by the neck and forced her to stop running. Her watery eyes looked at me in terror. Food… I growled loudly and tightened my grip. I took her head with my other hand, smiled satisfied and snapped her neck with a violent yank of my hand. The snap echoed across the mountain and I heard my brother roar in the distance. I dropped the lifeless body and dropped on my knees next to her. I opened my mouth and sank my teeth deep in the still warm skin. Immediately warm dark blood started to flow, my mouth overflowed and blood seeped down on the grassy ground. I wiped my chin and smelled the deep nutritious smell of blood. Vic came by my side, he also dropped to his knees quickly and sank his teeth into the deer, he greedily sucked in the blood and looked at me with deep satisfaction. The corpse of the deer lay in a pool of blood and fur, scratch and bite marks marred the beauty of an otherwise elegant animal. I stood up, satisfied and saturated, and looked at the moon. The crescent hung in the sky, motionless and white, visible through a clearing in the clouds. Dim white light shone through the trees and weakly lit the forest with eerie light. A distant howl shook me, I stood up and looked around me. Vic also was alarmed and I saw the moonlight reflecting of his dilated pupil.

"Let's move, the hounds are upon us, they've smelled the meat." Vic said silently and he listened carefully. I heard the hounds get closer to us, I nodded apprehensive and looked through the dim lit trees.

"Damn, too late." I said bleakly once I saw the lit cold blue eyes on the hill above us. they showed their white teeth and growled at us viciously. Vic stood up and came beside me.

There are few things vampires fear and we at this moment faced one of those things. Wolves are mean and cold hearted creatures. Who in a pack can kill a vampire with ease. Alone however they don't stand a chance. We and other vampires are settled here on this island because of the presence of wolves here, this helps us explain the animal casualties in the area. But at other moments the wolves are a threat to our existence, this was one of those moments.

"we're fucked…" Vic told me calmly. "we could never outrun the entire pack."

I smiled a tight smile and looked from wolf to wolf. The alpha-male stood the closest, between the trees about 5 meters away from us. from far the howls of another pack of wolfs sounded, the alpha-male looked behind him but continued to near us. Left and right of us more wolfs were flanking us. my saliva was sticky from the blood and the stress, I swallowed with difficulty and felt the spit slowly make its way to my stomach. Vic searched from my hand and I found his.

" 'Twas nice knowing you, bratja." Vic said and I smiled at him.

"Krov Bratja: blood brothers forever." I said softly and pressed my chest firmly against Vic's. "shall we make a run for it? And hope for the best?"

"What other choice do we have?" He answered silently and looked at me, his eyes, which had been black before, were now a deep purple color and he smiled at me with love in his eyes. I counted down using my fingers and eyed at the wolves, who in turn were keeping a close watch on us. I lowered my last finger and Vic ran away and I followed him. We ran, dodging trees and jumping through the undergrowth. I felt the vines licking my legs and making shallow scratches, I barely took notice of it. I heard the entire pack following us and looked behind me. Wolves love the chase, that was the downside of our plan. I knew my brother wouldn't be able to keep up with me and that eventually the wolves would get him. I stopped, unnoticed by my brother and let the wolves close in on me. I'd give them one hell of a chase, that's for damn sure, fuck 'em. I grinned and looked over my shoulder, the wolves were close enough… I turned right and ran down the mountain. Trees rushed by me, as I picked up speed. The rush of a car can't compare to the rush of reaching that speed with your own two legs. Down in the valley the river flowed, violently. A lonely outcrop of rocks came halfway the river. Standing on it, I could see the white foam down below. The river was twenty meters wide, so the jump was ten meters. I looked at the other side, looked up the mountain, where the wolves were coming from and then leapt across the gap, clearing it with ease. I knew wolves could jump it too, but at least it would slow them. I ran up another mountain again, still at high speed. I was trying to lure the wolves away from the house, to let Vic escape safely.

I thought of my brother and tales of old returned to me.


	3. Flashback

"_you ruffian! Get your FUCKING ass back here!!" _

_I stuck out my tongue at the stall vendor, and ran through the narrow streets carrying the loot on my back, two large juicy melons. _

"_catch me if you can!" I yelled over my shoulder not looking were I was going, with full speed I collided with a town official who was not happy to see me._

"_Right young sir, will you please hand me your loot?" he asked with a severe tone, "or I will have to take it from you."_

"_I'm terribly sorry sir, I see the error of my ways, here are the melons." I held out my hands with the two melons and just when the official was about to take them, I dropped them. I myself of course didn't care about the melons, I don't eat, but I do drink, and this large specimen made for a good drink. _

"_Why you!" he yelled, and the chase was on, I nimbly dodged the stalls weaving through the people, the official however, pushed everyone aside. These were the late dark ages 1497 in Russia, people were very easily annoyed and the market square was filled with irritated yells quickly. The bloke followed me outside the city gates into the forest were my brothers Vic and Reg lay in ambush. I passed them and stopped running. I slowly came to a full stop and turned around. _

"_Sorry sir, but I am one of the last people you will see alive, say your prayers…" I said smiling weakly, I had chosen the most sickening one for lunch. The official looked at me in total bewilderment and he pulled out his sword. _

"_You have guts, well, come on then, fight me." He said with a loud voice._

"_Sorry, but I will not go at it alone, my bratja will help me."_

"_And where be these bratja of yours?"_

"_We are here, constable." Reg said as he and Vic appeared from the bushes. Reg was my older brother, born in Russia and found by Conrad at the age of fifteen, fifty years before he found me. This exact murder would cost him his life. _

"_We do not like to do this you know," Reg continued, "But our father demands it, we must know the taste of royal blood, or so he says."_

"_But…" the official said bleakly and he gripped his sword firmly. _

"_Let us kill him," Vic, who normally was the silent one, said with determination. I grabbed our victim by his hairs and pulled him backwards with ease. He dropped his sword and fell to his knees. _

"_Go Reg, you can kill him." I said softly and smiled. Reg came closer and he bared his teeth._

"_No… Please, No!..." the official muttered, "I have gold, you can take all, just… please… let me live."_

"_We do not long for gold, we long for your blood." I whispered in his ear, and smiled devilish. Reg agreed with a growl and a malign smile and he sunk he teeth deep into the neck of his victim. The official screamed, he gasped and with one hand tried to free himself from Reg's grip. His arm went limp and Reg assumed he was dead. He released his grip and stood up. His victim lay on the ground bleeding violently. Reg kneeled next to him and licked his blood, enjoying every drop. He didn't notice that the official wasn't dead yet and that he had pulled a large knife. With one last power burst the official stabbed his knife deep into Reg's chest. _

"_Reg!!" I yelled useless as my brother's body sank to the forest floor, "You do not die easy? Right?!" I screamed at his lifeless body which didn't move. His body came back to life and stumbled to his feet. _

"_Nope…" he said and he smiled his I'm-more-than-okay-smile. But when he walked towards me the opposite was true: he fell to his knees and took shallow breaths. He pressed his hand firmly against his wound and looked at the knife of the official. The sharp metal looked dull in the clouded-over sunlight and at its edge stuck deep red blood. _

" _I will be alright, but you have to get the hell out of here." Reg said, "The townsfolk will have heard us, and they will come to investigate. Go!" we knew Reg wouldn't make it, and that he'd be beheaded at the town square when they found him here with the body, but his eyes, black as they might be, told truth, and he wanted us to leave. I kneeled by his side and lay my hand on his forehead and smiled, "Krov Bratja?"_

"_Krov Bratja…" Reg answered._

_Back at our forest lair, we felt the loss of our brother, painful and raw._

"_We could have rescued him," I said to Vic, eyes wandering, looking for grip on the living world. Trees were spinning, birds were screaming. They say vampires are dead immortal and most importantly soulless creatures. But grief, most definitively, falls inside our emotional range. _

"_No we could not…" Vic said, attempting to cheer me up, but his eyes told a different truth. A truth in which we were to blame for the fate that now rested on our brother's shoulders. Vic was older than I was , 21 years old, when he was bitten. I knew him before this, his human half, partly because it was me who forced Conrad to bite him. I thought him to be ignorant, wanted him to see truth in this world. And back then thought that being immortal offered the best truth. I know now, that being immortal completely warps your perception of truth, and that our blessing is more of a curse. _

_Poor Reg… May your soul find peace…_

_Poor Vic, may you ever find the real truth…_


	4. Old Enemies

My daydream was abruptly ended by the sudden realization that the pack of wolves had flanked me and the Alpha-male and his pack were now standing opposite to me.

"Damn…" I softly cursed, "Now what…"

The wolves growled, closing in on me.

"I hold no grudge against you! Go away!" I knew they wouldn't understand, but a chance is worth taking. I saw an opening, a female wasn't looking at me… I decided to go for it. I accelerated to the female, catching the entire pack off guard. I slammed into the wolf with my weight, forcing her to the ground. Too slow!!... I thought to myself as I saw the alpha-male jump for me, I dashed to the side, evading the sharp fangs of the alpha-male. I lost my balance and fell down, hitting my right shoulder. Damn! Another wolf caught me from the back, quickly sinking her teeth in my arm. I screamed… not in pain, in shock… Too slow! Again!... I quickly recovered by kicking with my free leg, I hit the wolf in the gut. It squealed and released me. I roared, trying to scare of the other wolves, this did nothing but make them angry. I felt blood seeping from my wound, not gushing like a normal human wound, but seeping.

"Shit, shit, shit!!" I screamed scared, I held on to my arm as I got on my feet and ran away.

No more hunt, this now was a life or death situation. I ran, quickly, but the wound was slowing me down, and I heard the pack gaining on me. They were going to kill me! Damn! I would die, here and now! They would tear me to shreds! No, no they would not, I'm superior. Fuck em! Thoughts raced through my head, conflicts… I ran on and felt my body breaking down under the strain, vampires aren't marathon athletics… The amount of trees was decreasing and the moon could be seen through the canopy. I finally came at a clearing in the forest and the moonlight was poured over the boggy swamp-like field. A smile returned to my face, Vic always warns me about this part of the forest, the bogs here are treacherous and will kill you. But not today, today it would save me. I gathered adrenaline, and leapt on to the moor. As I landed I Immediately felt my feet sinking down into the depths, I resisted, and jumped up again, jumping high above the grayish moor. I jumped again, and again, I felt my mood lift with every single jump. I outsmarted them! I cleared the bog landing on the firm soil on the other side and laughed loudly. Echoing through the trees, my laugh returned to me, eerie… I heard the wolves howl and wrinkled my lips into a wicked smile, they had come to the moor. A cloud slid in front of the moon, darkness gripped the land. I took a second to adjust to the new light conditions and again ran downhill, I had to get back to the house. I entered the dense forest again and weaved through the trees. I'd come a long way, shit… I'm already exhausted!... I looked up at the clouds, no stars to guide my way… I would need a road to get back. I sighed as I ran towards the road, this had been enough stress for one day. I jumped through a bush and my feet hit gravel the moment I landed, the road. I slipped to a standstill a looked both ways, one down, one up. My house lay uphill, and so I chose the road that led up the mountain, once more. Soft trickling of the first autumn rain broke the eerie silence, I smelled the forest, fresh smells of decaying leaves. I still ran, not because I was being chased, but because I wanted this night to be over. Stupid wolves! A distant sound reached my ear and I immediately stopped. An engine? This far into the woods? I listen carefully, the sound approached me, and within minutes I saw the headlights of a car come round the corner. I quickly found cover in the bushes next to the road, and watched the car go by. A large black all-terrain jeep, in the car sat four men, who looked like hunters, feverishly looking at the bushes next to the road. The shining muzzles of rifles caught my eye: Most definitely hunters. I must tell Vic. As the sound became a distant hum, I reappeared from the undergrowth and continued the way, also keeping track of any new sounds. I ran on, with probably an extra enemy on my tail. Rain started to pour from the heavens, and the road quickly turned to mud, slowing my progress. I found the entrance to the drive to our house and ran down it. Luckily the tracks of the jeep followed the normal track and the sound was almost inaudible now. Finally my house came into sight, I ran up to the entry door and firstly recaptured my breath, I found myself panting like a human who'd run a marathon. Damn! My stamina was dwindling. I now felt the slight burn in my leg muscles, and the flesh wound on my arm was leaking blood. It stopped the bleeding with a piece of cloth torn from my wet t-shirt. The skies really had opened up now, and rain crashed down on the leaves of the canopy, forcing the almighty trees to bow down, mother nature at her best. I entered the house and walked down the stairs, I smelled the outside in the living room, Vic had made it. A warmth engulfed me, a safe hugging feeling, I was home… I left a muddy trail coming down the stairs and without thinking I shook my head to dry my hair.

Vic was waiting for me downstairs, a worried look on his face, "Where the heck have you been? Why are you bleeding?!"

"Someone had to lead the wolves away from us, right?" I said calmly and smiled bravely, like some hero, which I didn't feel like.

"You did what?!" Vic frowned.

"I had to let the wolves chase me, otherwise they would've killed you!" I said defeated, I expected gratitude, not anger and that came like a slap in the face.

"GODDAMNIT! Have you fucking lost your mind?!" Vic yelled angrily. I tried another smile, Vic answered with a demonic roar.

"You can't Handle a pack of wolves on your own, you utter moron!"

"they would've caught you!" I tried to defend myself.

"And so you sacrifice yourself?!" Vic Yelped. I knew this anger, this wasn't because he was angry, this was because he was worried about me… what a brother!

"I'm here right?" I said comforting, "in, well almost, one piece. They took a bite from the arm."

Vic calmly walked up to me, "Bloody idiot…" he said softly, the disappointment in his voice was harder to bear than the anger. He raised his hand, preparing to slap me, instead he carefully laid it on my cheek. "Stupid idiot, utter fool…" He stammered softly, "if you were to be killed, who'd I have left?" He took a step towards me, stretching out his arms, I walked to him, and entered his embrace.

He hugged me tightly. Even though vampires aren't prone to crying, I saw a solitaire tear run down my brother's cheek.

"You are everything to me, my Bratja, without you I'd be completely lost." Vic looked me in my eyes, his deep purple colored eyes emitted a calm which made my heart make a single beat, as if it were human.

"Sorry, bratja, It was wrong of me… but I'd also be nothing without you, I'd only wished to protect you…" I said softly and I saw a smile return to Vic's face.

"I will fend for myself… never do it again! Please?" Vic asked smiling.

I nodded. Silly thing: emotions…

"Brother?" I asked, ten minutes later while we were watching a silly home shopping program on television. I'd changed into dry clothes and Vic had mopped up the mud and rain water. Rain was still beating down and the trickling on the roof spread a glum feeling in our home.

"Hmm?" he answered, slightly dazed look in his eyes.

"When was the last time you saw humans up the mountain?" I said calmly, still staring at the television. Humans nowadays are lazy, for every problem, a gizmo. Ha!...

"Humans?" Vic asked, he frowned, his eyes sank deep beneath his brow, "well, not in years! The occasional hiker or farmer, but nothing more, not this high. Why?"

"I saw a jeep tonight, with hunters in it." I said, quasi-interested.

Vic awoke from his trance and looked at me, anxious, "What?!"

"You think, maybe, they're after us?" I answered his unspoken question

"Well, I sure don't hope so…" Vic said worried, "But what else would hunters be doing here in the midst of night?"

"You think, its them?"

"possibly…"

* * *

_The year is 1622, 125 years after Reg had died, 316 years after my rebirth. The year Conrad died. _

"_No!" I screamed, "I will not eat him! Nor will Vic!"_

"_YOU INSOLENT LITTLE BRAT!" Conrad yelled at me, his yelling was powerful, as if the forest yelled with him. "YOU KNOW NOT THE CONSEQUE__NCES__!" _

"_I most definitely do! We do not want to feel like animals or monsters anymore! _

"_you think that is what you are?! Monsters?" Conrad sighed, he walked towards me, his red eyes punctured my resolve, I felt air being sucked out of my lungs. "Damn you! I raised you as my own! Took you in as a child! You have grown considerably, but apparently not enough!" Conrad turned his back on me, and wanted to walk away. _

"_I have learned enough! I know now the real truth! We do not have to be monsters! You taught me wrong! Do you want to see another child dead?"_

"_HA! You think I will let that happen?! I would rather die myself!" Conrad laughed, he turned around once more, and showed me his hand. _

"_See this color?! This is the color of death! We cannot be accepted as normal humans!!" _

"_Yes we can!"_

"_Well! If you do not accept me anymore, and your brother feels the same, you will have to kill me!" Conrad yapped, and a grin appeared, "But hell, you do not have half the power needed! Here you are: a mere child!"_

"_Bu…" I opened my mouth, but saw Conrad's face, and closed it quickly _

"_Now GO!" he screamed. I bowed my head unwillingly, his mind power was awesome… _

_I turned around and walked away, angrily pushing aside the branches of trees. _

_The river flowed peacefully, I sat down on a green mossy rock and looked at the fish, trying to fight the, for him, powerful current. _

"_There you are bratja…" Vic said softly in my ear, he had crept up on me, without me noticing. "You okay?" _

"_No Bratja, no…" I answered grimly. _

"_Conrad was relentless right?" he asked, but knew the answer. And I only nodded._

"_He said we had to kill him…"_

_Vic stared at the fish, and he smiled peacefully, he always was the wisest of us._

" _No chance in this world, he would have us dead in seconds."_

"_no way…"_

"_there is, of course, one other way." Vic said, "but we would be putting ourselves in danger too…"_

"_Spill, Bratja…" I said to him, trying to read the glimmer in his eyes. He was prepared to put himself in danger to kill Conrad, we really hated his guts._

"_Have you ever heard of the Order of Purification?"_

* * *

"I thought they'd been eradicated centuries ago…" I muttered, thinking back to the days when our life as vampires was in serious danger.

"Well, probably not…" Vic answered with a sad expression.

The Order of Purification or the Divine Human Spirit, was a sinister splinter faction of the Catholic church, who were most active during the late dark ages. The Order was brought to life after the Bull Summis desiderantes affectibus by pope Innocent VIII, in this bull the hunt on witches and vampires was made legal. This Order, driven by one leader, who ironically was a vampire, was focused on the eradication of the Vampiric Race. In the dawning years of the Order their hunters killed 20000 'suspected' humans before turning to actual vampires. After being discovered, a vampire stood little to no chance of surviving, hunted down and killed like a beast, this is what happened to Conrad, killed by the Order… The Order was successful in destroying the Sangue Reale in Italy, the major and oldest Vampiric family worldwide. But this attracted unwanted attention to the Order, for the murder of almost 200 brethren won't go unnoticed in the other Families. And so the Order was systematically assassinated. But still, Vampiric believe says a few survived, amongst which, the leader of the order: Alessandro Moretti. In 1646, 353 years after the Sangue Reale murders, Pope Innocent X officially declared the Order to be heretical and their hunts based upon mere folklore, and barred the order from practicing any public function. However, in the course of the second half of the second millennium, unsolved Vampire murders still remain, and many say the Order is still active, even greater than it was back then.

"Well, I say, let them try and come for us!" I yelled viciously, Vic jumped up, startled.

"Don't be so rash, Bratja, you know what they did to Conrad right?"

"Hmph… true…" I smiled serenely.


	5. Murder!

_ Months of preparation had culminated into this day, the day Conrad dies…__ The Order would be in town on suspicion of Vampiric activities: towns people tended to disappear more often than they could produce children, the town was slowly dying out. By our hand, I might add. Their lives were sacrificed to end Conrad's. I lay next to Vic in a bush on a hill above the city and watched a few people scurry across the empty town square. At the city gates a horse and rider appeared, wearing a black hood so he face couldn't be seen. He walked through the gates and approached an elderly woman, he conversed with her, she hugged him tightly, and he turned around and walked back to his horse. I saw him searching in the bag which hung from the back of his horse. He took out a small horn, marble white with a black leather strap, he blew it. A shrill sound echoed through the mountains. From far I heard the cracking of a whip, quickly followed by the sound of a carriage getting closer. In the distance I saw the carriage appear from the woods, the black horses struggling to trudge through the soggy grounds. In front of the city gates the carriage came to a stop, the first man walked up to the carriage and knocked on its door. The door swung open and a long man got out, the first man bowed, the second man waved him off. Three more men got out, all dressed in black leather clothing. They wore swords and their clothes were engraved with catholic symbols. _

_The Order._

_The first man talked to the rest of the group, after minutes the five men tied up the horses and disappeared into the bushes. _

"_Right, lets lead them to our beloved father." Vic said sarcastically and he stood up from our hiding place. I followed him into the woods, without a word. One wrong move and it wouldn't be just Conrad's life that'd be taken today. _

"_We will pull this off." Vic said, "after which we will escape to the New Land, across the oceans."_

_I only smiled and responded with a nod. _

"_You will lead those Order bastards to Conrad right?" Vic asked, I responded only by nodding again. I was quicker and best capable to evade the bastards, if necessary. _

"_We will meet in Paris?" I asked him, "I will bring Conrad's ring as proof of his death." _

_This time, Vic answered only by nodding._

"_Good luck, Bratja." Vic said, and he took me in his arms. "Come within the week, please, I do not wish to leave without you." _

_I nodded, it all fell down to me now. Vic smiled at me, his eyes burning. He turned around and disappeared into the bushes. _

_I sighed deeply, finally tyranny would come to an end, however, an end, which could spell disaster. _

_Ah well… I closed my eyes, turned my head to the woods and focused my senses, I heard birds, the stream in the distance, Vic walking softly through the woods, 5 voices speaking loudly. I also heard, which frightened me most , Conrad's breathing. _

_Shit!_

"_were you planning on tricking me boy?" a soft voice said. I quickly opened my eyes and looked around: nothing. _

_He knew, our plan was foiled. He mental capacity was extraordinary, reaching to me, across this distance. _

_It couldn't be helped, plan B it was… Speed. _

_One thing I had over Conrad, actually over most of the vampires, was speed. I could outrun them all. _

_I would run towards the hunters, goading them into following me and then onwards to Conrad, who would hear me coming, but wouldn't run away, he liked the confrontation. This one however he wouldn't win. I took off, still listening for what the Order was doing. They stopped to listen to my loud footsteps, closing in on them. They paid no heed to me and continued. When I was fifty meters removed from them, they looked back and saw me. _

"_YOU! White skin!" the leader yelled. I was standing in the sunlight, my skin glistening. _

"_You want to kill me?" I said, keeping my cool. "Come and get me!" _

_I ran at them, they drew their swords. _

"_Too slow!" I whispered in the leader's ear, standing closely next to him. I laid my hand on his shoulder and smiled. He turned around, swinging his sword at me. I was long gone when the sword swung by me. _

"_Do not just stand there! Follow him!" the leader yelled, surprised by my quick responses. They sheathed their swords and ran after me. I kept my speed down, allowing them to stay with me. I smiled. Stupid humans. The trees were growing bigger and closer together the further I ran into the forest. As I came closer to Conrad, his presence in the woods became apparent, he pressed down on my thoughts. I ignored him, still listening for my pursuers, they stayed close. I came to a clearing, and stopped dead in my tracks._

"_You…" I said loudly. Conrad smiled and he slowly walked to me_

"_Well, well, well… The lost son returns again…" Conrad whispered spiteful."Welcome back, boy…"_

"_You will die, father…" I said angrily, quivering with fear. He read me, like a book…_

"_Hmm… perhaps you're right. Cannot believe it, but well…" he whispered and charged at me. His fist came flying from the left. I blocked the punch , the force was enormous, I flew back and hit the dust on my back, the dust flew into the air, blocking sight. _

"_You thought, you could kill me?" Conrad said venomously, I saw him walking at me through the dust, he was about to kick me. I dodged his foot, stood up and got behind him. _

"_I would not try to go at it alone." I whispered quietly into his ear._

_Could it be? He hadn't noticed the humans? _

"_Your weak friends? they are your back-up?" he curled his lips into a wicked smile and his hollow laugh echoed between the trees, he turned around and hit me in the gut. _

"_There are two of you?!" the leader of the order yelled, they also came to the clearing. _

"_Bright folk…" Conrad mumbled, and he walked at the Order, arms spread wide. _

_Silence fell, only disturbed by the howling wind. I stumbled to my feet and saw Conrad standing between myself and the Order, I stepped sideward to see the Order. _

"_Well, are you going to kill us any time soon?" Conrad asked happily. _

"_C-crossbows!" the leader said with hesitation, two order members quickly took their crossbows from their backs, they aimed. "Fire…" the leader said determined. The arrows flew towards us. I effortlessly caught the arrow and snapped it in half. I ran towards the leader, got behind him before they could react.  
"Please note, we are not your average, every-day vampire. It will take more than that to kill us."_

_I ran back to Conrad, he hadn't been quick enough and the arrow had scraped his arm. I stood opposite of him, now I was between the order and Conrad, I looked into his dark red eyes, an involuntary quiver raced down my spine. _

"_Well, what of it? Kill me…"_

"_No… just a second…" I answered waiting patiently. _

"_Fire again!! Kill them!" I heard the leader say, I curled my lips and waiting for the sound of the arrows. A whistling sound approached me and I reacted. I dodged towards Conrad, in passing I grabbed his arm and moved it up his back, standing behind him I grabbed his other arm and also forced it on his back, restraining his movements. The arrows struck. _

"_That hurts right?" I whispered into his ear, I released my grasp and watched Conrad drop to his knees. _

"_To finish it…" I mumbled, I pulled a dagger from my belt and put it on Conrad's throat. _

"_this is best…" I said softly and slit his throat. "Rest in peace, father…"_


End file.
